Brad Marchand Ejected from Game After Gostisbehere Deliberately Fires Puck at Him

The Florida Panthers are one series away from their third-straight Stanley Cup Finals appearance, and with the Carolina Hurricanes standing in their way, many see them as the favourite to get back to the Finals.

In Game 1, the Panthers used their momentum from the Maple Leafs series to get on top early in this one, and with the team up 4-1 in the third period, the intensity was raised a few notches.

Despite their lead, Brad Marchand took a run at defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere, and while he didn't connect with his hit, the 'Canes veteran wasn't too happy with the situation, and he retaliated quickly.

In the process, Gostisbehere shot the puck directly at Marchand, at unsurprisingly, No. 63 felt that it was intentional, as did many fans on social media, and very quickly, the two veterans dropped the gloves.

Clearly the officials didn't see this one as an intentional act from Gostisbehere, and made the shocking decision to give Marchand a 10-minute misconduct and kick him from the game, much to the delight of the fans in Raleigh.

Usually, fans would agree that Marchand is in the wrong and deserved punishment, but this time around, it seems as though he's being treated unfairly, as the 'Canes veteran was the one to initiate the misconduct with the intentional shot right at the body of his opponent.

Ultimately though, this was a key Game 1 win for the Panthers in Florida, but with how intense this series has already become, this likely isn't to be the only incident between the teams as they look to scratch and claw to get to the Stanley Cup Finals.